Hawaii volcano

[WHBM]

Jetpatcher should fix this ...

[Bryn666]

Couple of "uneven surface" signs and a warning that "tires will melt, then your gas tank will explode" should sort it.

In all seriousness, if you live in the Leilani Estates area at the moment, it's a worrying time. Even though the risk is well known, for an active vent to open up in the middle of a residential area is a bit Hollywood disaster epic.

[WHBM]

I'm sure Hollywood scriptwriters are scribbling as we speak - they don't seem to have thought of this one before.

It's not just lava flows down from the volcano, it's fissures opening up and molten lava coming out in the lower mountain flanks, miles from the peak, in residential areas.

Volcanic lava flows can be contained and diverted, to an extent, by building bunds and using bulldozers to divert it while it is still warm and plasticised. There are videos on YouTube. Must be quite a job for the bulldozer driver.

[bothar]

I'm sure Hollywood scriptwriters are scribbling as we speak - they don't seem to have thought of this one before.

It's not just lava flows down from the volcano, it's fissures opening up and molten lava coming out in the lower mountain flanks, miles from the peak, in residential areas.

Volcanic lava flows can be contained and diverted, to an extent, by building bunds and using bulldozers to divert it while it is still warm and plasticised. There are videos on YouTube. Must be quite a job for the bulldozer driver.

While in Sicily on holiday last year I took a tour up Etna. The guide said that the top flows were powerful, but were not near residential areas, while the lower fissures were less powerful and stoppable with effort.

[owen b]

I'm sure Hollywood scriptwriters are scribbling as we speak - they don't seem to have thought of this one before.

It's not just lava flows down from the volcano, it's fissures opening up and molten lava coming out in the lower mountain flanks, miles from the peak, in residential areas.

Volcanic lava flows can be contained and diverted, to an extent, by building bunds and using bulldozers to divert it while it is still warm and plasticised. There are videos on YouTube. Must be quite a job for the bulldozer driver.

While in Sicily on holiday last year I took a tour up Etna. The guide said that the top flows were powerful, but were not near residential areas, while the lower fissures were less powerful and stoppable with effort.

I went up Etna in June 2006, just a few weeks before what Wikipedia describes as "intense eruptions" at the south east crater. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Etna There have been several lava flows on Etna's flanks in recent decades which have destroyed or damaged property, notably the 2002-2003 event which destroyed a tourist station, and the 1991-1993 episode which threatened the town of Zafferana where the lava flows were successfully diverted.

[rhyds]

I'm sure Hollywood scriptwriters are scribbling as we speak - they don't seem to have thought of this one before.

It's not just lava flows down from the volcano, it's fissures opening up and molten lava coming out in the lower mountain flanks, miles from the peak, in residential areas.

Volcanic lava flows can be contained and diverted, to an extent, by building bunds and using bulldozers to divert it while it is still warm and plasticised. There are videos on YouTube. Must be quite a job for the bulldozer driver.

Not a lot will get in the way of a good Caterpillar!

[Bryn666]

Well they did try with the awfully kitsch Volcano in 1997... volcano erupts in the La Brea tar pits and everyone runs around like headless chickens.

It could well be the case that the neighbourhood is abandoned and the lava will just claim it, it's not the first time Hawaii has done that (several roads have been lost under lava and just forgotten about previously).

[bart]

Most (possibly all) of the previous roads and subdivisions lost were due to flows from a distance away with some degree of warning. Here, fissures just opened right in the middle of the subdivision and started chucking stuff out.

[WHBM]

Certainly puts the current UK pothole problem into context.

Mind you, we could take bets as to which will be overcome first ...